Coronation Street and Emmerdale made a pivotal shift last year that appears to be garnering significant results. Since October, viewers have been able to watch the ITV soaps on ITVX from 7am, giving fans early access nearly 12 hours ahead of the traditional broadcast on ITV1.
This move was inspired by the success enjoyed by the BBC's EastEnders, which had been offering its episodes early on iPlayer for several years. It didn't take long for the ITV counterparts to adopt a similar strategy.
The strategy seems to have paid off handsomely, as it has just been disclosed that Coronation Street and Emmerdale have together notched up an extraordinary 124 million streams in the first quarter of 2025, significantly contributing to ITVX reaching an impressive milestone of one billion streams overall.
The surge in streaming, marking a 35% increase in soap watching compared with the same period last year, can be attributed to compelling plotlines and the advantage of early episode availability.
The year kicked off with impactful storylines, notably featuring Emmerdale's explosive stunt week in February, which included a catastrophic limo crash that killed three major characters.
ITV's Managing Director of Media and Entertainment, Kevin Lygo, commented on the achievement: "We have totally transformed our streaming offer with ITVX over the past couple of years, and all our teams internally, alongside the best producers in the business, have helped deliver these brilliant numbers, by producing, promoting and delivering this fantastic content to audiences to stream.", reports the Mirror.
Big changes are on the horizon for our beloved soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street, with a major schedule reshuffle kicking off from January 2026. Emmerdale fans can expect a concise 30-minute instalment daily at 8pm, followed by Coronation Street's own half-hour narrative starting at 8.30pm during weekdays.
As it stands, Emmerdale graces our screens Monday to Friday at 7.30pm with an extended one-hour special on Thursday, while Coronation Street currently settles into the 8pm slot on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for an entire hour.
Lygo, marked this strategic move as the "soap power hour" and revealed that resources saved would be channelled into other creative ventures.
The adjustment means soap enthusiasts will get five hours of drama each week instead of the current six-hour dosage, but despite the cutback in airtime, ITV aims to ramp up content quality and deliver storytelling that fits modern viewing habits.
Lygo also explained: "The new commissioning pattern is viewer-led. We already give more choice than ever to viewers on how they watch us through ITVX and we want to present their favourite soap to them, in the most digestible way.
"Streaming-friendly, 30 minute episodes better provide the opportunity to meet viewer expectations for storyline pace, pay-off and resolution."
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